lesson
information
9–12
Coast Salish, Colville Confederated Tribes, Lummi, Makah, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Puyallup, Quileute, Skokomish, Yakama
Environmental Science, Geography, Government and Civics, History, Social Studies
Pacific Northwest, salmon, usual and accustomed, Washington state, fisheries, treaty rights, salmon runs, dams, pollution, salmon habitat, environment, sustainability, cultures, culture, spawning grounds, comanagement, food sovereignty, foods
Northwest Coast, North America
FULL LESSON
Food is More Than Just What You Eat
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Teacher Instructions
Foods and Cultures Video
HEAR
FROM THE
EXPERT:
Shana Brown
Educator from the Yakama Nation
Essential Connections Between Food and Culture
We have not always gotten our foods from grocery stores or restaurants. Nor have we always been accustomed to eating out-of-season or imported exotic foods. Before shipping, plastic wrap, and packaged meats, we ate what our local environments provided. And we built our worlds accordingly.
The food practices of the Native Nations of the Pacific Northwest do not just reflect their identities; they define their identities. Who we are as a people is reflected in our relationship with the environment, the foods that environment provides, and the individual and collective responsibilities undertaken to care for natural resources. Natural resources are not simply viewed by Native people as commodities to be bought and sold; instead, they are viewed as relatives to be cherished and cared for. Culturally important foods, such as salmon and other fish, reflect the unique histories and experiences of Native peoples, especially the histories and experiences that are connected to landscapes and water.
Because our lives and identities are so intertwined with salmon, many Native peoples in the Pacific Northwest call themselves the Salmon People. From the late eighteenth-century on, European and American arrivals in the Pacific Northwest made it increasingly difficult for our ancestors to maintain their food practices, especially once non-Native diets became so prevalent. The influx of non-Native settlers in the Pacific Northwest, thus, threatened our very identity as Salmon People. Over time, the activities of non-Indian settlers brought about commercial fishing, pollution, habitat loss, hydroelectric dams, and other factors that had a very negative impact on the salmon population and the environment as a whole. Instead of respectfully using and managing existing resources, the newcomers altered the landscape and depleted resources. They also denied Indians access to millennia-old hunting, fishing, and gathering sites.
Despite these challenges, tribal nations have been able to maintain their traditional food practices to varying degrees of success. Today, we see a renewed resurgence of and respect for traditional Native food practices. This resurgence not only complements the survival of tribal peoples, their collective identities, and their sovereignty, but it also supports the changing viewpoints of non-Indian people, who now more frequently accept the essential and sustainable value in the very food practices they once sought to eliminate altogether.
A number of contemporary practices and events reflect and strengthen the revival of traditional indigenous food practices. One such event, the annual Canoe Journey along the Pacific coastline of Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington, illustrates the renaissance our nations are experiencing. Once a year, canoes filled with indigenous peoples from all over the world converge on the Pacific Northwest. Native Nations here host these events, and share their stories, songs, foods, and food practices with everyone who has gathered for the occasion. Indigenous participants and canoe families exchange cultural protocols to demonstrate the mutual respect for "homelands" among the gathered people, and particularly for the homelands of the people being visited. Inaugurated by Native leaders in 1989, the annual Canoe Journey event was developed to help tribal youth strengthen their connections with their past and present cultures and environments and, by doing so, strengthen personal identities for the future.
Through the activities and resources of this lesson, you will witness the incredible resiliency and innovation of the Native Nations of the Pacific Northwest in their efforts to protect and cultivate healthy relationships with their relatives—salmon, water, and homelands. And, you will see how foods can define not only who we are, but also who we wish to be.
Why is Salmon Important to Native People and Nations of the Pacific Northwest?
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How Do Threats to Salmon Impact Native People and Nations of the Pacific Northwest?
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What Actions are Native Nations Taking to Restore Salmon and Strengthen Cultures?
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WATCH SHORT INTRODUCTION VIDEO »
Canoe Journey Video
Why Do the Foods We Eat Matter?
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Foods Still Matter: The Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project
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Related Resources
